A/HRC/11/9 page 4 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, presents her first annual report to the Human Rights Council, pursuant to its resolution 8/11. Since assuming her functions on 1 May 2008, the independent expert has focused on integrating a human rights perspective into international, regional and national efforts to reduce poverty. 2. The independent expert presented her first report to the General Assembly (A/63/274) in October 2008. In that report she elaborated on the conceptual framework upon which the work of the mandate is based and set out her work plan for the period 2008-2010. In November 2008, the independent expert undertook a country visit to Ecuador. During the reporting period, she also participated in events and held working meetings with Governments, United Nations agencies, donor agencies, academic institutions, NGOs as well as representatives of the poor. In September 2008, the independent expert took part in the Social Forum of the Human Rights Council. In January 2009, she participated in the seminar on the “Draft Guiding Principles on extreme poverty and human rights”. She contributed to a joint report on the follow-up to the ninth special session of the Council on “grave violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly due to the recent Israeli military attacks in the occupied Gaza Strip” (A/HRC/10/22). The independent expert also participated in the tenth special session of the Human Rights Council on “the impact of the global economic and financial crises on the universal realization and effective enjoyment of human rights”. 3. As indicated in the independent expert’s first report to the General Assembly, a human rights framework must guide the design and implementation of all social policies that aim to reduce poverty. Human rights standards will not necessarily prescribe specific policy measures, and States have the discretion to formulate policies that are most appropriate for their circumstances. However, they must ensure that international human rights obligations are taken into account when designing, implementing and evaluating social policies related to poverty. Social policies that aim to reduce poverty must promote the fulfilment, and avoid any violation, of human rights. 4. Human rights standards also assist in building social consensus and mobilizing durable political commitments at the national, regional and international levels. They add legitimacy as they refer to a universally accepted set of norms and values. A focus on rights and obligations helps to identify who is entitled to make claims and who has a duty to take action, thereby empowering those who have legitimate claims to rights. While people living in extreme poverty may remain largely invisible to policymakers, a human rights approach facilitates their visibility because it requires that people are given a voice and it requires direct interventions that aim to protect people living in extreme poverty. 5. The human rights normative framework also offers ways of analysing how these programmes should or do benefit the most vulnerable by looking not only at the end result - the individual/household becoming less poor - but also at the overall process: the individual acquiring capacities in order not to be deprived of resources, capabilities, choices, security or power.